Best Cassia Poems
The Sounds of Summer
I was trying to hear the sounds of Summer,
Which often comes with heat and dust like a hammer,
Suddenly I saw, lots of clouds hanging in the air,
They were covering the Sun, as if some mystery was there.
How amazing and mysterious are the summer clouds,
How beautifully the Sun is trying to peep out,
How lovely is the breeze, blowing all around me,
Intoxicating my mind, with its ravishing beauty.
How beautifully the birds are singing and chattering,
While flying in the air with their soul mates, touching the clouds,
How enchanting is the fragrance coming out from summer breeze,
How lovely is the bunch of yellow flowers, calling me there,
While hanging on the tree of Amaltash,* and embracing it completely,
Oh yellow Amaltash,
Why you bloom, so enchantingly in summer only.
How gently the Sunbeams have touched their smiling faces,
How softly the lotus is opening its petals,
And the Roses are spreading it charms in the air,
Should I remain here or should I go there?
After those alluring summer charms, which call me from here to there,
Or should I stand still to understand and to determine,
What is the mystery of life? Which fascinates me every where,
How really blessed is human life to enjoy such blessings,
Which we often miss in our life by just overlooking,
Since we are accustomed to hear, the usual sound of heat & dust only.
Ravindra
Kanpur India. 14th May 2010
Written for Laura Mckenzie’s Sound of Summer Contest
* Amaltash. Common Name Amaltas
Scientific Name Cassia fistula (linn). In summer it has more
yellow flowers, every where on the tree and hardly any leaves.
You are extreme in beauty
perfected by builders who constructed all
your planking with pine trees from Ivory coast
and made a mast for you out of the combined crafts
from brown ebony and snake wood.
Out of the oaks from Bashan your Oars are made
and from the cypress wood of Cyprus
your decks crafted and inlaid with ivory.
Your awning of blue and purple fabric are from Egypt
and the inhabitants of America would be your rowers.
These rowers will bring you unto the high seas
you’ll become full and heavily loaded in its heart
the countryside shakes at the sound of your sailor’s cries
and all those who handle an oar will disembark from their ships
The whole of Europe is your trading partner in choice garments,
Cloaks of blue and embroidered materials and multicolored carperts
which are bound and secured with cords in your market place.
Your deals encompasses constant exchanges of turquoise,
Corals, rubies, wheat from minnith, white whool, wrought Iron,
Cassia and aromatic cane.
Costal lines are your trading gardens
and Roman ships will be the carriers of your goods.
Your captains are your wise men and your wise men
are the elders of Spain and Portugal
who take charge in repairing your leaks.
Your skyline will shade the sun and your islands, enrich the oceans
you’ll be the wealthiest in culture and diversity
because of your traders and visitors trooping from all corners of the Earth.
Come forth now and prosper
for greatness and fortune await your enrichment.
Night falls and the mirror moon illumes the
heavenly starry skies with gleaming ivory beams.
Shiny and mellow, a splendrous silver orb,
the delight of the night sky!
It is the evening of the 15th, and the cool air is fair,
filled with chirping crickets and reason for revelry.
Kinfolk gather to rejoice within the warmth of their hearth,
toasting with mulled wine ; munching moon cakes!
But today is also sacred and solemn, and offerings
must be made to Heaven and Earth. Thus, scented
sandalwood incense are lit ; apricots and pomelos are placed
upon lacquer plates before the plaques of divine gods,
and dear ancestors.
Away from laughter and lanterns, besides a quiet lake,
and under a lofty peak, sits a sagacious couple. She smiles
and plays the guqin, sending with each skillful stroke,
soft and serene sounds that grace the ethereal night's air.
As for him, he stands pleased under the pavilion, inhaling
the sweet scents of blooming peach blossoms, and admiring
the moon as it rose and the beauty of his wife before the
bright shimmer of moonlight.
Content, he recites a poem:
“The moon is luminous,
Heaven is harmonious,
Autumn has come,
And Summer is gone,
I toast my cassia wine,
To a harvest most fine!”
All rights released into Public Domain
Driven by courage and inherent strength;
Dream of worlds vanish, transcending forward.
Wonder-less towards the horizon length,
Vagrant clouds sail with the wind's breath northward.
Dream of worlds vanish, transcending forward
Desert path, mountain valleys enraptured.
Vagrant clouds sail with the wind's breath northward
Between O-Cassia trees and recaptured.
Desert path, mountain valleys enraptured,
Fumbling golden flowers on the branches,
Between O-Cassia trees, and recaptured
Outstretched towards sway of shining patches.
Fumbling golden flowers on the branches
Wonder-less towards the horizon length,
Outstretched towards sway of shining patches
Driven by courage and inherent strength.
11/23/2020
Pen a Pantoum Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: D.W. Rodgers
Shadow Poerty guidelines
On my first trip to the outback across the endless plains,
I saw a harsh and hungry land in pastel coloured stains.
There are more secrets out there, than sun and shifting sand -
It would take more than my lifetime to ever understand.
I saw Eagles, Wrens and Butcherbirds; Kangaroo and Emu,
blending with the Saltbush, in Mallee scrub and Heathland too.
Choughs flock along the roadside. Bearded Dragons soak up sun;
a King Brown sweeps with lightning speed; a Goanna on the run.
A sight to behold my thirsty eyes; a lake filled blue and wide,
big as any ocean I have seen. I could not see the other side,
Wildflowers bloom with coloured heads; purple, red and blue.
The Eremophila and Cassia display, a dull but greyish hue.
Black dots littered 'cross the surface in their thousands do amaze.
Ducks, Pelicans, Swans and Coots - further than the shimmering haze.
Long legged Stints with sticky beaks tread sand along the shore.
Swallows skimmed the water - what fish surfaced I'm not sure.
To stand alone amid this beauty, surely, too few of us will see.
Below the skies unending azure blue - vastness runs away from me.
I get the chance to have reflection now 'bout hardships in my hand,
but troubles in my life seem small when casting eyes across this land.
Once I left the sandy shoreline, this reflection stayed a while
etching past the endless Saltbush, which grows mile after mile.
And the dry and dusty plains return where water’s hard to find -
I yearn for comforts of my home - yet crave the views I left behind.
Oluwapemi... your name is soft to the ears... your name speaks peace...
Your name is the soothing ointment of the troubled mind
It sounds like the luculent laughter that comes with the dawn when the turbulent Night is conquered...
It is the extant song of the cuckoo bird in springtime when the greenery blossoms,
and it echoes like the plaintive notes of the first rains sent forth to quench the thirst of the long dehydrated Savannah...
Oluwapemi!
You are the dew of my morning, the freshness that envelops my Night,
and your even-tempered voice like my mother's, is like the cicadas that heralds the break of my dawn
You are the beam from which I draw my strength; the roof over my head, the lintel of my shelter-the pillar thereof,
and the marble upon which I cast my verse...
Oluwapemi!
Your breath is enlivening like the tender breeze that blows beneath the tamarind tree at dusk when the Sun is at rest...
The scent of your hair is like the smell of cinnamon, like the surpassing fragrance of cassia,
your haloed eyes, mild like a dove's, are the Sun and Moon of my Earth, your face my dazzling mirror!
Your waist to the shoulders is like cornfield in the Savannah upon which the young deer gallops,
the verdure on which the reindeer refreshes, the resting place of the poet,
and with your limbs like a wild gazelle's, you leap gracefully against the vanishing rays of the ephemeral sunset...
Oluwapemi!
Name of gold-that is the name that brings comfort to the restless soul
Oluwapemi...
Lady of the Sycamore, epitome of purity, healing balm, priceless jewel, glittering gold
My song, my Muse, my goddess!
You are black and beautiful-the true colour of nature;
and your beauty transcends the laws of time which makes you the delight of the poet...
I will proclaim your name... I will proclaim your name...
Oluwapemi... Oluwapemi... that is your name
Diamond in the morning sun, fresh wine from the vine...
My pride, my mirth, my perfect poetess!
Who possesses the semblance of your comeliness?
Bathed in nectar dew drops, now
the damsel spring stealthily
tiptoes into the hamlet
with all its strength.
The south breeze plays
fifth symphony on tender new leaves,
flings the grey garment of fugitive winter
on the tether of time.
The red modesty of cassia flowers
lazily thrown on the elevations,
sheuli flower hides her whitish face
in dark screen.
Forest being released from solitary confinement
bedecks with colors of nature
snow white swans conquest the copper sky
Jasmine frequently haunts dark nights.
The sun rises
on the forehead of a newlywed bride
as if it is a circular spot of vermilion.
Man in remaining incognito
for years, has come back
to the war fields of life,
perhaps he wants to pay
his debts of soul.
Somebody, in quest of a blue envelope
tinted with multicolor of unknown flowers
but the letter box of young heart
wide open, as the darkness of suspicion
has broken its lock,
the love knots of past love
lost in the time treacherous sand
anxiously asks for identity.
Still on the debris of sand castle
built of hopes and promises,
a young poet composes a lyric
with inks of blood and shades of despair
his pen of eternal pain proclaims,
“Spring has set in again
to solace thousands of broken hearts.”
The flame of the forests blushing
In the dewy cool of the morning air.
Peach blossoms hearken spring’s arrival.
Comes summer, Amaltas golden bells ringing.
Forget me not, Magnolia’s lover.
Yesterday today tomorrow’s, bloom.
Together with the clouds, lightening
Thunder, eating away the blue skies.
O! Maulsari, it is you,
In your full grown majesty,
Bestowing those white star
Aromas, on my wee little world.
Chorosia, You naked white barked Mexican.
Have you no fear of winter charmers?
The fascinating ornaments you throw up,
Will wither as seasons change.
Alas , the birds have flown away.
The crusty leaves flutter in silence.
Masquerading Sarus, standing in defiance.
Waiting the deep winter calls.
Lord ! let me hibernate, till,
The springs bloom again.
Ref:
1. Butea Frondosa (flame of the forests)
2. Peach Dr. Hogg (Peach blossoms)
3. Cassia Fistula (Amaltas)
4. Myostis Palustris (Forget me not)
5. Magnolia Grandiflora (Magnolia)
6. Francesia Latifolia (Yesterday today tomorrow)
7. Mimusops Elengi (Maulsari)
8. Chorosia Specosia (Chorosia)
9. Cupressus Sempervirens (Sarus)
A fish drifts in a fresh water aquarium
The soul of the fish dwell forever in this live suit
Living on nothing but oxygen, just like we all do
How’s it to live in an Aquarium, forever in a tunnel of living water
And who is that man who snatches the fish from this aquarium
This deceitful and cunning man feeds the fish with a false bait
And devours the fish, ride it to the kitchen in a burning oven
And rejoices that his false bait has found such a prodigal fish
The owner of the living aquarium warns and says
“Children, don’t live outside my living aquarium
Come and spend time underwater and carry life with you
Open your gills wide and draw fresh water into your bloodstream
How is it like to live outside my living aquarium?
And who is this fish who still slumbers in dead waters?
Opening it's gills to carcasses, serpents and the leviathan
Come and be transfigured with myrrh, aloes and cassia”
Friend, do you remember the Prayer Aquarium?
When in the days we were refreshed with His life
Standing silently for many lost and wandering souls
We drank deeply and our souls were satisfied
We have lived outside the prayer aquarium
Outside the aquarium is like taking a fish out of water
We birthed in the prayer aquarium and death dissolved
Fish needs oxygen just like our soul needs prayer
Without the means to take us there, we spread our wings..
Amid imagination and shall one fail as fly ? Revisiting days gone by
A young teen sitting at her mall; tainted, still far from polluted be they yet
Their heart but even more so it's flesh ? Spreading this cloak covering, life's darkness
Servants of sin slaves, claimed in carnal and whom is free ? Fashioned love's platter
Where from we feast ? His children stepping through time to now bind, reasons...
Atop her bench while beauty she passes within, such glorious light ? Nineteen seventy-five.
A secret admirer sent fresh flowers
Through his good-looking gardener
The girl didn’t really know
That he couldn’t talk so
She kissed him with a “yes” answer.
The gardener pointed at the man
Waiting at the picnic grove’s stand
Making signs of his waiting
She said, "We’re coming!"
Sprang with joy as she held his hand.
While spring in air was gifting joy to the three
On a green grass under the Cassia Fistula Tree
The gardener played his flute
After the revelation of the truth
Then ran away when they saw the bee-colony.
Feb. 16,2022 6:43pm
?
Now, historians say the Babylonians invented soap in 2800 B.C.E
Water, alkali and cassia oil ~ formula of hope in the 21st century
Earthy
Dry grass sweet scent
Ginger, cassia warm whiffs
Crisp air with the musk of dropped leaves
Fall's prides
PLACE: 6th
Come ! Oh, come with me into the Land of Khem
we will journey through Akhet, Season of Inundation, when Earth sucks water like babes suck breast milk —
Come witness Lady Goddess Nile gurgle and hurdle through loops of Land, pregnant with squishy surrender to Sky’s surreal squirts swelling, heaving musky whispers enticing …
Come ! Oh, sprint into First Season of Three
not four did Goddess Nile seek, scintillating Trinity, reflecting — Father-Mother-Spirit —
River ripples her ebbs, flows, floods like lymph discharging down from Chariots of Love, nymphy
nourishing our Land of Khem, a cyclical Dove
witness earthworms, opium opalescent intuiting
satiated belly rising rotund do not squirm !
…
Akhet ! Season smooching loam, replenishes with luscious silt, drifting deep into anaharta as River of Life weds exploration in every direction preparing for fruitful deliverance, split damp soft
So variegated from her sisters Peret, stretching every stem…vine, pomegranate, camomile with senna theming henna Shemu, who weans unwanting tessellating harvests
Come ! Oh, ramble with me as I rise from cell’s pillows clouds winking Akhet’s regenerative watery pause — fostering fennel, myrrh marrying our marrow with lute embracing flutes
ibis watching wise-eyed cute
Enter alongside into my temple labours where ritually we will favour saluting Waters of Fate
chant to Osiris about rebirthing spectrums of
spectres speculating species, hailing Angels to descend in marigold mercy… on flight beyond sight
We will exalt Horus in holy frolic humbling nurturing Akhet’s pungent onions, garlic, chilli
barley with cassia respecting order of Three
Inner rhymes will tinkle breath upon breath
begets shadow with Light, scribing papyrus within sacred enclosures — Presence preps
Akhet, ambitious spawning cradle, Keeper of Lustre Listening Waters dark, falters no arcs
Rise ! Oh, rise with me to burn oil lamps low
speaking Names of the Dead lauding our efforts ancestors quiver facing forthcoming harvests —
linen, aloe abundant whoohoo hymns hoopoe
Into Akhet’s kilns we will deposit Pharoah’s turquoise jewellery caressingly we shall craft clay, making no mistakes, quaint guinea fowl quills piercingly ache, before treading to do
our share in pyramids so fair !